One hundred years ago
Mr J. C. King, of Wellington Square, S.W., is a bold man. He proposes to join Ireland to Scotland by a gigantic mole, stretching from the Mull of Cantyre to Tor Point, Antrim. The distance is 19 miles, the extreme depth 474 feet, and thre are at each end hilly tracts which might, by skilful engineering, be thrown into the Channel. The schenie is, of course, a mere dream, though no one would' say that the actual junction of Ireland and Britain is beyond the possibilities of the future. It is conceivable that means of boring cylindrical tunnels at very great depths, and with much rapidity, may one day be discovered, though it is difficult even to imagine how they are to be ventilated. The tunnels of today through the Alps are teaching engineers many lessons, but they are not able yet to dispense with air, to prevent water from percolating downwards, or to make tubes which could be kept air-tight and dry if laid upon a sea-floor. Even the tunnelling of great rivers has hitherto presented insuperable difficulties, though it would improve very seriously the facilities of locomotion. Bridges do not stand long enough, under the vibration caused by trains.
Spectator, 1 January 1881
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